Improvement in annealing-pots and sauoees



Jo,'HN'H1BELL',o-F NEeHELLs, ENGLAND.

Leiters Patent 170.79559, ma July 7, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT Ibi,AlilLJALINGf-POTSv `AND SAUGERS.

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TO ALL TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOHNHIBELL, of Nechells, near Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, England, wire-drawer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, have invented or discovered newand useful Improvements in Annealing-Pots and Saucers, for Annealing Iron and Steel Wire, Sheet Metal, and other articles and I, the said JOHN HIBELL, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and -by the following statement thereof;v that is to say- Annealing-pots as ordinarily constructed consist of hollow cylinders of cast iron, closed athottom, and...

furnished with a lid or cover at top, which lid is closed nearly air-tight during the annealing process. The said pots are huilt in afurnace, and are charged with the articles tobe annealed, and heated to the required degree, By annealing iron and steelwire and other articles in pots of this kind, the surfaces of the said articles are more or less covered with scale produced by the presence of air. in the said pots.` i

The object of my inventioniis to anneal articles shV as to avoid the production of scale on their surfaces, or

to reduce it to a minimum, as well as to heat the annealing-pot rapidly and uniformly. Y

In constructing annealing-pots according to my invention,fI make them of two hollow cylinders of cast iron ofdi'erent diameters,rthe inner Vor smaller hollow cylinder being situated eoncentrically within the outer orl'arger hollow cylinder'. An annularor ring-like space is thus left between the two holl'ow cylinders, which space constitutesA the chamber in which the articles to beannealed are placed. The bottom of the said chamber is closed, and the top is also temporarily closed, during-the'annealing process, by a lid or cover,which lid or l co'ver is Vmade air-tight in'any convenient way. -The interior of the pot,'that is, `the space within the small hollowcylinder, is open, so that all parts of the saidrpot are ,exposed to the action of the heat in theheated annealing-pot, or furnace, or uiulle. l

In using the annealing-pot forannealing iron orrsteelwire, the bundles of wire are charged'intothe annular space in thcpot, the said bundles offwire filling up thersaid space.v The air-spacc'thus left in the said pot is very small, and the oxidation or scaling of the surface`of the wire durin'g the annealing process is .wholly or mainly prevented. t By exposing the inside of the pot, as well as the outside, to the action of the heat, the wirey is more readily and uniformlyheatedthan when the pot isrheated from `the outside only.

' When sheet metal is to be annealed in potsO constructed' according to my invention, it is coiled into rings.

or bands, of a diameter equal to that of the annular space ofthe pot, and the said Irings charged into the said pot. When smnll articles are to be annealed, I reduce the annular space in which they are placed, so 'as to anneal them in contact with as little air as possible.

By the us of my invention, the production of scale on the articles annealed is wholly prevented, or reduced 4 to a minimum, and the cleaning or pickling process, which is necessary to remove the Yscale produced by the ordinary method of annealing, is thus in a great measure rendered unnecessary.

,Y My invention Aconsists-further in the following improvement or improvements in the saucers on which annealing-pots are supported' in the. furnace. In addition 4to the ordinary low cylindrical ilange of the said saucers, I make `another cylindrical ange, external to the ordinary one, and concentric therewith, the said additional flange extending from-'one-third to 'one-half the height of 'the pot. The said ,additional ila-nge may either be made of cast iron or brick-work. By theuse of the said additional iangef the ire is prevented from injuriously affecting the bottom of the annealing-pot, andthe pot lso protected lasts longer than pots set upon saucers of' the ordinary kind.

This part of my invention may be applied to pots of the ordinary kind, as well as to pots 'constructed according to my invention. In the latter case I prefer to use a ilange, both within. and without. the pot, for pro# tect'ing the bottom from the action of the-fire.

'Having explained the nature of my invention, IwillV procecd'todescribe, with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, the manner in which the same is to he performed.

Figure l represents in elevation au annealing-pot constructed according to my invention. Figure 2 is a vertical'scc'tion of the same, and I Figure 3 is a plan of the same. c

The same letters of reference lare employed to indicate thesame parts in the several figures of the drawing.

a b are the two hollow cylinders of cast iron, constituting the annealing-pot. The said'hollow cylinders are of different diameters, the inner or smaller one, b, being situated concentrically within the outer or'larger one, a,as represented. Each of the said cylinders a b is erpauded at top, for the purpose of forming a support or bed for the lid o r cover of the pot. Between thetwo hollow. cylinders a and b, an annular or ring-like space, marked c, is left,'which space constitutes the chamber in which the articles to be annealed are placed. The bottom of the chamber c is closed at d, and the top of the said chamber is open, but the saidv open top is temporarily closed during the annealing` process by a lid or cover of? a ring-like form. This lid or cover is shown separately i n section in r.ligure 6, and is marked e. The said lid or cover e has upon its bottom, V-shaped annular projections,

annealing-pot.

lThelid or cover eLfitted on the top of au annealing-pot, is represented in Figure 5. By means of the V-shaped. projections and depressions, the Jiillor cover eismade air-tight; or the said lid orcover may be made air-tight bya sand-joint, or in any'otherconvenient way. Iprefer tn malre the inner hollow cylinder, b, ofthe annealing-A pot-slightly conical, as represented in the drawing, but the sides of the hollowA cylinder may be parallel. The central hollow space,f, With-in lthe small, orvinner hollow cylinder, b, is open both at top and bottom, for the circulation of heated 'air through the vsaid space, so that all partsof the pot are exposed to the actionof the.

fire and heat in the heated annealingfpot, or furnace, or mule, and the articles to he annealed are thus more rapidly and uniformly heated than when the pot is heated from the outside only.

In annealing iron or steel wire, the circular bundles of wire are charged into the annular' annealingchamber c of th'egpot, the said bundles of 'wire filling up the said chamber, The air-space thus left in the potV v is very small, and the oxidation or scaling of the surface ofthe wire during the annealing'process is wholly or mainly prevented'. VThe. bundlespof wire charged into the chamber c are exposed on their-inner and outer sides -to the action of the heated inner and outer sides of the annealing-pot,l a'nd the saidlbundles are thereby rapidly and uniformly annealed.

In annealing sheet metal, it is coiled into rings or bands of a diameter 'equal to that of the annular-chamber c of the pot, andthe said rings are charged into the pot in a manner similarlto that ofthe wire bundles. Any kind of wire or metallic rods, or other large articles capable of being coiled into aring-like ligure,- and requir- Ving to be annealed, m'ay'be chargedinto the annealing-pot in'the same manner.

When small articlesvare to' be annealed, they may be placed "in the annealing-pot without being bent. In

annealing small articles, I prefer to employ a small annealing-pot, but I donot limit myself to any particular.

size of the annealing-'chamber in which the articles are annealed. j

When it is desired `to prevent to the utmost the oxidation of thewire or articles being annealed,I separate the pot into several chambers by means of the movable intermediate lids, pp, fig. '5.

Instead of making the smaller hollow cylinder 6 'ofthe pot open at topland bottom, as in the annealing-pot represented inigs. 1, 2, and 3, the said small cylinder maybe closedat bottom and open at top, as represented in the`vertical` section of the annealing-pot, Figure 4, or the said small cylinder may b e closed at top and openA at bottom, as represented in the vertical section of the annealing-pot, fig. 5. In both these cases the inner` side of the annealing-chamber'c of the pots lis exposed 'to the heated air' of the annealing-furnace or muflie, ibut the said heated air does not,A circulate through the cylindricalopening in the middle of the pot, Aas in the arrange.' ment represented in ligs. 1, 2, und 3. l

` In using annealing-pots made according to my invention, I remove them from the muifle or furnace in which they are heated, as soon as the contents of thesaid pots aresuiiciently hot, 'and allow the said pots and their contents to cool in the air. I charge other pots, filled with wire or articles to be annealed, 'into `the y'heated muiile or furnace, and so on, so las to avoid the loss of heat which is incurred when 4the pot is built in thenfurnace', and the furnace allowed to cool with the pot. '.lwo or more of my improved pots may be placed one upon the other, in the fui'na'lce or inutile.

My improved annealing-pots may be built in the furnace when preferred. f

Annealing-pots made accordingto my invention maybe cast in one piece, or they may be made in two or more pieces, bolted or otherwise connected together.

Figure 'Trl-epresents, in elevation, and v Figure 8 in vertical section,- asaucer for supporting annealing-pots, made according to my invention, in the furnace or muile in which they are heated.

Figure 9 represents the said saucer in connection with an annealing-pot Aof the construction represented in iig. 2. The said saucer consists of two cylindrical flanges, y t, concentric with/one another, the said anges beingconnectcd to or made in one piece, with the base, z'. When the pot is placed in the saucer, the ang'esg h are situated on the inner audouter sides of the said pot. The said danges g z may extend from one-third to one-half the height of the pot, and they may either be made of cast iron or of brick-work. By the use of the said anges g h, thc iii-e is prevented from injuring the bottom ofthe annealing-pot both on its outer and inner sides, and the pot so protected lasts longer than lif set upon a saucer of the ordinaryv kind.

' Figure l0 represents a saucer for supporting ordinary annealing-pots made according to my invention. is`

the ordinary flange of 4the saucer Z, and m is the additional cylindrical flange, concentric with and external to the said ordinary dauge 7c, n is the annealing-pot set upon the saucer l. The said additional flange m may e2, which fit in V-shaped annular vgrooves or depressions, e3, in-the enlarged top of the extend from one-third to one-halfrthe height of the po't, the said additional flange protecting the bottom cfthe pot from the action of the iire.-Y v Y v Although annealing-plots made according to my invention are especially applicable to the annealing of iron.l A' and steel wire, yet the said pots may also be used 4advantageously for annealing all such metallic sheets and wires and other metallic things as require to be annealed.`

Having now described the nature of my said invention, and the manner in Vwhich the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood, that I do not limit myselfl to the precise details herein described and repre'. sented in the drawing, as the same may .be varied without departing from the nature Yof my invention; but l I claim 4as my invention-.- Y y 4 1. The improi'ementsin annealing-pots'for annealing iron and-steel wire, sheet metal, and other articles hereinbcfore described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing; that is to say, making the'said annealingpotsof two concentric hollow cylinders, of di'erent diameters, the space between the said hollow cylindersconstituting an annular chamber, in which the articles to be annealed are placed,.the said annular chamber being exposed to the Eire and heat, both on its outer and inner sides, substantiallyv as described and illustrated.

i 2. The improvement or improvements in the saucers used for supporting annealing-pots in the furnaces or mnes in which they are heated, hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing; `that is to say, making the said saucers with a double ange', by means of which the bottom of the annealing-pot is pro-` tected. froml the injurious action of the fire, substantially as describedl'and represented.

JOHN HIBELL. [1.. s]

Witnesses:

RICHARD VSKEmm'rr, 7 Carman' Street, Birmingham, HENRY SKERRErT, 7 Carmon Street, Birmingham. 

